My name is Alice. Early last year, I was troubled by an anxiety that crippled ( 削弱 ) my ability to do anything. I felt like a storm cloud hung over me. For almost a year I struggled on, constantly staring at this wall that faced me. My perfectionist tendencies were the main root of this: I wanted to be perfect at whatever I did, which obviously in life is not possible, but it consumed me.
我的名字是爱丽丝。去年初，我被一种严重影响我的能力的焦虑所困扰。我感觉自己就像被一团乌云笼罩着。差不多一年，我不停地挣扎着，一直盯着眼前这堵墙。我的完美主义倾向是这一切的根源：我想要在做任何事情时都完美无缺，显然在现实生活中这是不可能的，但这种渴求却让我困扰不已。

One day, I attended a presentation by wildlife conservationist Grant Brown at my high school. His presentation not only awed and inspired me, but also helped emerge an inner desire to make a difference in the world. I joined a pre-presentation dinner with him and that smaller setting allowed me to slowly build up my courage to speak one-on-one with him—an idea that had seemed completely impossible. This first contact was where my story began.
有一天，我在高中参加了野生动物保护主义者格兰特·布朗的演讲。

A month later, Brown invited me to attend the World Youth Wildlife Conference. Looking back, I now see that this would be the first in a series of timely opportunities that my old self would have let pass, but that this new and more confident Alice enthusiastically seized. Shortly after I received his invitation, applications to join the Youth for Nature and the Youth for Planet groups were sent around through my high school. I decided to commit to completing the applications, and soon I was a part of a growing global team of young people working to protect nature. Each of these new steps continued to grow my confidence.
一个月后，布朗邀请我参加世界青年野生动物会议。回想起来，我现在意识到这将是一系列及时机遇中的第一个，以前的我可能会错过，但这位更加自信的艾丽丝热情地抓住了。不久之后，我收到了他的邀请，学校里开始流传加入青年为自然和青年为地球团体的申请。我决定承诺完成这些申请，很快我就成为了一个致力于保护自然的日益壮大的全球年轻团队的一员。这些新步骤每一次都在增强我的信心。

I am writing this just six months since my journey began and I’ve realised that my biggest obstacle ( 障碍 ) this whole time was myself. It was that voice in the back of my head telling me that one phrase that has stopped so many people from reaching their potential: I can’t. They say good things come to those who wait; I say: grab every opportunity with everything you have and be impatient. After all, nature does not require our patience, but our action.
我写下这段文字时，距离我的旅程开始仅有六个月，我意识到这段时间以来我最大的障碍其实是我自己。是那种在我脑后总是告诉自己一个停止很多人实现潜力的短语：“我做不到。”他们说好事总会降临在那些等待的人身上；我说：抓住每一个机会，全力以赴，并且不耐烦。毕竟，大自然并不需要我们的耐心，而是我们的行动。

24．What was the main cause for Alice’s anxiety?
A．Her inability to act her age. B．Her habit of consumption.
C．Her desire to be perfect. D．Her lack of inspiration.
答案：C

25．How did Grant Brown’s presentation influence Alice?
A．She decided to do something for nature. B．She tasted the sweetness of friendship.
C．She learned about the harm of desire. D．She built up her courage to speak up.
答案：A

26．The activities Alice joined in helped her to become more __.
A．intelligent B．confident C．innovative D．critical
答案：B

27．What can we learn from this passage?
A．Practice makes perfect. B．Patience is a cure of anxiety.
C．Action is worry’s worst enemy. D．Everything comes to those who wait.
答案：C